OAF News

Dept of Cdn. Heritage – Endowment Incentives Matching Grants - 2012

May 3, 2012

On April 2nd, we received confirmation from the Hon. James Moore, Minister of Canadian Heritage of the 2012 endowment matching grants under the Endowment Incentives Component of the Canada Cultural Investment Fund.

For arts organizations who applied in 2011, the matching grant this year is a very positive 82 cents for every dollar contributed to endowment. Two examples illustrate the power of this program. One arts organization contributed $1.1 million of a special gift they received to an endowment with the OAF. The organization received $954,000 in matching funds from Cdn Heritage - almost doubling the long term future stream of income to support their arts program. A second organization has consistently contributed smaller amounts ( $5 to $10,000 ) each year, with a result of matching grants that now exceed $100,000 of additional capital to support the organization. The program guidelines offer increased flexibility which will be attractive to arts organizations.

In 2011, the Endowment Incentives Component paid over $18 million in matching grants to arts organizations across Canada. This strongly reflects the strength of private/public partnerships supporting the arts. The program continues to 2015, and we encourage arts organizations to seek opportunities to participate, receive matching funds and grow long term capital and income.